Over the last number of years there has been a noticeable rise in the number of reported targeted attacks, which are also commonly referred to as advanced persistent threats (APTs). Notable examples of said attacks include the Red October campaign or the IXESHE APT. What sets a targeted attack apart from a widespread attack is…

Trend Micro researchers have uncovered a targeted attack launched against government agencies in various countries. The email claimed to be from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, although it appears to have been sent from a Gmail account and did not use a Chinese name. Figure 1. Fake message The document contains a malicious attachment,…

An unusual attack has been spotted in the wild, using an unexpected combination of threats. This attack used exploit kits (in particular Java and PDF exploits) to deliver file infectors onto vulnerable systems. Interestingly, these file infectors have information theft routines, which is a behavior not usually found among file infectors. These malware are part…